"We've Never Experienced This Phenomenon Before" PlayStation Exclusive from 2022 is Still Going Strong 3 Years Later

Popular PlayStation exclusive Gran Turismo 7 is still gaining tons of new players over three years after its initial launch, according to series producer Kazunori Yamauchi. Despite launching in early 2022, Gran Turismo 7 is maintaining a very active player base, one that continues to grow against all odds.

The Gran Turismo sim racing franchise has been a staple PlayStation exclusive for almost three decades now. The first game in the series, Gran Turismo, launched as an exclusive for the original PlayStation, and each subsequent title has been a massive addition to Sony’s game library. Where Microsoft eventually put its eggs in the Forza basket for its realistic racing offerings, Sony continued to persevere with Polyphone Digital’s popular Gran Turismo series. Even today, when it feels like Sony and Microsoft are breaking down exclusive barriers more than ever before, it feels impossible to imagine Gran Turismo losing its PlayStation-exclusive status.

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Gran Turismo 7 is Still Gaining Players After Nearly Four Years

Speaking in a roundtable to GTPlanet, series producer Kazunori Yamauchi spoke about the ongoing success of Gran Turismo 7. “Gran Turismo 7 has been released for several years, but still, the active users are currently over 2 million people, and the new users are increasing,” he said. “The status that Gran Turismo 7 is in now is probably the best of any Gran Turismo titles that we’ve had in the past. We’ve never experienced this phenomenon before, and neither has PlayStation.” Even with Gran Turismo 7 powering the franchise past big sales milestones, it’s somewhat surprising to see the newest game in the series continuing to thrive so long after its release. In March, Gran Turismo 7 will celebrate its fourth anniversary, with no end in sight for its ongoing growth.

It’s fairly typical in this day and age to see players pick up and drop games in a rapid fashion. Yet, Gran Turismo 7 is defying industry trends in this regard, doing so without any significant price drops to revive the game. There are a few potential reasons for this phenomenon. First, the fact that Gran Turismo 7 is cross-generation across PlayStation 4 and 5 is massive. It’s easy to forget that many gamers never made the jump to current-gen consoles, with many choosing to stick with their trusty PS4 for the time being. This allows Gran Turismo 7 to have a much wider potential audience. There’s the simple quality factor – GT7 is undoubtedly among the best PlayStation racing games on the market right now, and has the sim racing spot on Sony’s platform pretty much locked down. Gamers can find arcade racers, sure, but there’s simply nothing of Gran Turismo 7‘s quality on PlayStation 5. This means that new fans coming into the fold will still look to the 2022 title as their first port of call.

We’ve never experienced this phenomenon before, and neither has PlayStation.

However, it can’t be understated how important Polyphony Digital’s post-launch support is in the game’s ongoing success. It’s easy to forget that Gran Turismo 7 was review-bombed at launch, with players furious at the game’s initial aggressive microtransaction approach. The developer has completely turned it around over the years, and just a few months ago, Gran Turismo 7 dropped its biggest content update to date. New cars, new tracks, and much more. This level of support doesn’t just ensure that new players are well-served when they play for the first time, but it’s also important in ensuring those who already play on a regular basis stick around for the long haul. With this success, it’s unclear when the developer plans to launch another game in the series, with players evidently still pleased with the game they already have.